A father-of-two has ditched his “dad bod’ by shedding 8.5kg of lockdown weight in just six weeks – with a diet plan that included burgers and beer.
Jon Lipsey, 41, has labelled the regimen that allowed him to build a six-pack without giving up his favourite foods and drinks the “beer and barbell” plan.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic I let myself go – I ate too much and I exercised too little,” Jon said.
“It didn’t happen overnight. These things never do. But between March 2020 and September 2021, I added about 7kg of padding – mainly around my belly, love handles and chest.
“That superficial slide was mirrored by things you can’t measure on a bathroom scale, and as my waistline expanded I also became stressed, irritable and tired.”
As the editor of health and fitness website, New Body Plan, Jon decided to develop a new six-week exercise and eating plan that he could use himself and share with his readers – without a drastic lifestyle shift.
He said: “The weight gain affected my mood, and I wasn’t great to be around either. My job is to help people get – and stay – happy and healthy, so I also felt like a failure and a fraud. Something had to change.
“As a busy 41-year-old father of two, I needed a fun and flexible exercise plan that fitted around a busy life and I needed to find a way to eat for a healthier body that didn’t feel like a diet.
“After all, we’d all given up enough over the last couple of years. I wasn’t really up for imposing a set of self-inflicted restrictions.”
Adamant on not spending too long in the gym or surviving off nothing but “chicken breasts and boiled broccoli,” Jon was able to see results by eating substantial meals and completing three 40-minute gym sessions and one 20-minute home workout per week.
He said: “I wanted something that the average person could use to take back control of their post-pandemic health and fitness.”
The meal plan allowed him to eat 2127 calories a day, including a healthy English breakfast, consisting of two fried eggs, two rashers of smoked bacon, a cup of sautéed mushrooms, six cherry tomatoes and half a can of reduced sugar and salt baked beans.
He also incorporated a serving of diet whey protein powder with water into his day as a morning snack.
For lunch, he whipped up a lean chicken club sandwich – made up of 100g of chicken breast, one rasher of bacon, one sliced boiled egg, four slices of tomato, half a cup of lettuce, half a tablespoon of light mayo and two slices of wholemeal bread, followed by 100g of natural yoghurt and 75g frozen mixed berries as an afternoon snack.
For an evening meal, the plan shows followers how to make lamb kebabs, by combining 150g of cubed lamb, one cup of mushrooms, one cup of sliced courgettes and a cup of chopped green peppers, adding a sliced clove of garlic, mint sauce, lemon juice, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.
Once all of the ingredients are combined, Jon leaves the mixture to marinate for 20 minutes before using skewers to make kebabs and grilling them until cooked to taste, serving with rice.
The plan also allows an evening snack of a small bag of sweet and salty popcorn, two squares of dark chocolate. The final calories of the day are reserved for the all-important 330ml bottle of medium-strength lager.
Jon added: “I wanted to show that a typical 40-something dad like me could get ripped.
“It’s all very well for a 21-year-old Instagram influencer with a cushy job and no kids to have a six-pack. They’ve got age, genetics and time on their side.
“But what about an overworked middle-aged guy with a hectic family life?
“My aim was to prove that you can still build a Love Island body, even if you’re old enough for the average contestant to be one of your kids.
“And I’ve proved it can be done, not just for me, but for anyone who follows my new plan.”
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